Yesterday at 4:45 p.m. news broke that the Oilers had traded Ladislav Smid to Calgary, and a half hour later the Ilya Bryzgalov signing became official. Some wondered if the two deals were connected. I believe they were, but not just for financial reasons.

Trading Smid freed up $2.786 million in cap space for the remainder of the season, and $3.5 mill cap hit for the following three years, while Ilya Bryzgalov was signed for $1.75 million, which starting today is $1.393 million in actual cap space. The Oilers could have signed Bryzgalov to that deal without moving Smid; however, I do see a connection between the moves.

The Oilers aren't making the playoffs this season. The coaches and players won't think that way, as they should, but in making these moves I believe Craig MacTavish recognizes the disappointing reality that the Oilers are already 12 points out of a playoff spot.

I expect the Oilers to be better in their final 65 games, but they won't go 38-17-6 in their final 65 (which would give them 92 points).

An hour after making the deal, MacTavish stated that he felt the Oilers had more depth on the blueline, and he expected Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse to be two possibilities to replace Smid's size. Klefbom is 6'3" while Nurse is 6'4", but neither will replace Smid right now. Both of them will push for a roster spot next season, although Klefbom likely will get some games near the end of this season.

MacTavish made this move with the long-term future in mind, more than the short term, and I believe the Bryzgalov move was also made with the bigger picture in mind.

MacTavish is hoping Bryzgalov can come in and either out perform Devan Dubnyk, or push him to play better. That helps right now, but more importantly he needs solid goaltending so his players can taste some success. I don't see the Bryzgalov signing as a big risk. He can't be worse than what they have, and despite some of his past comments, I doubt he will be a bad influence in the dressing room.

The Oilers are finally starting to get comfortable with Dallas Eakins system, and if they can get some victories they are more likely to buy in even more and should enter next season more comfortable in their overall game. For that to happen they need better goaltending.

The Oilers outplayed Tampa Bay on Thursday, one of the better teams in the league, but they lost. We all saw the need to try and improve the goaltending right away, but I feel that MacTavish also did it with an eye on next season.

Eakins isn't getting fired, and next year will be the first time in four seasons that the Oilers won't have to learn a new system. They will enter a season with some actual continuity and understanding of their system. They won't need 10, 15 or 50 games to get comfortable with their new coach.

The Oilers need to have a strong second half. They will get more comfortable in the system, and if they can win some games down the stretch, at least they will end the season with some confidence.

These trades were about the big picture, and the Smid move also gave MacTavish some cap flexibility so he can make even more moves leading up to the trade deadline.

SMID TRADE...

The Oilers lose this trade today; because Roman Horak and Laurent Brossoit are both prospects and there is no guarantee either one of them will ever play. They won't help the Oilers today. It is fair to question why MacTavish made the move, but I believe he made it to get some cap flexibility short term and long term, and he felt Smid was expendable.

Smid was their best shot blocker and most physical defender. He will be missed. Despite his offensive shortcomings, no one ever questioned his willingness and desire. He competed, and he was sick of losing. He was well-liked in the dressing room, and he really enjoyed living in Edmonton. I know being a good guy off the ice, doesn't always coincide with victories on the ice, but the community will miss him. I

On a personal note, I enjoyed interacting with Smid. He was always throwing out barbs and chirps. He would chirp anyone and he was always smiling, even when he was pissed off. A part of me feels bad for Smid, because he is leaving one rebuild for another. I don't see him racking up a lot of wins in Calgary and being on a losing team for that long must start to wear on a guy.

At the same time I don't think Smid's departure is a major blow to the Oilers. They will miss his competitiveness and shot-blocking abilities, but Andrew Ference plays the same game, and if Klefbom is ready next season he has more overall upside.

I also don't think Taylor Fedun's play led to the Smid trade. Craig MacTavish said he had been discussing this deal with the Flames for a few weeks. Smid's puck moving ability was a concern for the team, especially in Dallas Eakins' new system.

TODAY'S GAME....

The Oilers and Flyers are the poster boys for underachieving so far this season. The Oilers sit in the basement of the western conference, while the Flyers are a disappointing 2nd last in the east. The Flyers only have nine points.

Claude Giroux has 0 goals in 15 games. Scott Hartnell has 1 point in 11 games. Wayne Simmonds and Jacob Voracek each have 1 goal in 15 games.

Giroux had 41 goals and 140 points in his previous 125 games.
Hartnell had 45 goals and 75 points in his previous 114 games.
Simmonds had 43 goals and 81 points in his previous 127 games.
Voracek had 40 goals and 85 points in his previous 126 games.

The Flyers are struggling because their best forwards can't produce.

Flyers analyst Steve Coates told me yesterday that the Flyers are an extremely fragile team right now. When something goes wrong in a game they unravel, and they haven't been able to overcome adversity.

Despite below average goaltending and some five-star giveaways the Oilers haven't folded their tents, except for the brutal Detroit game, so far this season. The Oilers have at least battled throughout the majority of their games.

The Oilers need to attack the Flyers right away. Score first and see if the Flyers will wilt. Eventually Giroux, Hartnell, Simmonds and Voracek are going to start scoring, the Oilers have to try and delay that inevitability for at least one more game.

LINEUP...

The fourth line could also include Ryan Jones or Wil Acton. Those players rotated in and out during yesterday's practice.

David Perron and Jesse Joensuu will return to the lineup, and the Oilers will dress their healthiest forward group of the season. If you switched Yakupov for Arcobello, the top three lines would be what most projected them to be, but Arcobello has earned the right to stay in the top-nine.

If the Oilers can stay healthy, Eakins will finally have the option to move guys in and out, or up and down the lineup based on performance.

Ference-Petry
Belov-Larsen
N.Schultz-Fedun

Dubnyk

The D pairs could also change with Anton Belov replacing Smid. The Oilers backend isn't very big or physical, but the Oilers feel they can move the puck quickly, and that should allow their fast, skilled forwards to generate offence.

MORNING GLORY....

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Flyers and Oilers will each get a point. This one ends in a SO, and the Oilers get the bonus point in a 4-3 win.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Wanye and many others miss the first period. Wanye slept in because he spent three hours talking to babes on line after returning home from the bar. Unlike Chip from Napolean Dynamite, none of Wanye's babes lived in the same country, however, so there will be no nuptials in his immediate future. But he will SQUEEEEEEEE when Eberle scores in the 2nd period.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Fedun scores for the third consecutive game. His comeback story just gets better and better as he becomes the first D-man in the expansion era to score a goal in his first three NHL games. Fedun was the first D-man to score in his first two games since, Marcus Ragnarsson in 1995/1996. (Thanks to Elias Sports Bureau for getting me that answer.)

One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on TSN 1260, and he writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor

Today I could not force myself to watch the game all the way through without using the fast forward. I keep selling more and more of my seasons tickets to total strangers. I no longer visit Oilersnation, Copper and Blue, Lowetide, Black Dog, MC79, Cult Of Hockey, Hockey Buzz, or the Oilogosphere on a daily basis. I now rarely comment on any of the content written. (Once a favorite past time of mine) I'm listening to more and more music on the radio. I haven't bothered to watch the first episode of Oil Change Season 4 because I no longer care to have a behind the scenes look at yet another coaching change, high draft selection, and rhetoric filled training camp...

Honest reader; before you hit
Trash it; please understand that I didn't jump off the bandwagon... The bandwagon itself has finally disintegrated to the point that I, like many others, have been unwillingly thrown clear; left standing on the side of the road, badly wounded, unable to help those still trapped on the smoldering wreckage as it wildly plummets toward certain disaster.

and to think I had been defending Dubnyk all bloody summer. He sucks. He just really sucks. He is a big bag of Suck. I'm so mad at his level of suckiness. I can't even describe his suck it sucks so bad.

I live up in High Level, AB. 800 km north of Edmonton. I try to make the drive down to Edmonton at least once a year to see an Oilers game. But not this year. I'm not spending $200 on ticket and driving 8 hours to watch this garbage. Now if the people of Edmonton would do the same for a bit and boycott this crap. Maybe 6 rings would get fired "if there's ever a concern" haha. I'm done ranting for today.

Ironic that Smid was the player saying if the team didn't start performing someone was going to get traded. I wish him all the best, it's really to bad he had to go to Calgary though.. Now I have to hate him!

MacT trading what little toughness he had on the back end in Smid for magic beans.If they wanted Brossoit the should of drafted him.I was hoping they would. Mistake.

Not signing a legit goalie to push Dubnyk .Mistake.

Not getting a legit number two centre.Mistake

Signing Hemsky for five million mistake

Signing Grebs. Mistake.

I could keep going on but I will stop with.The press conference to remove all doubt the team is run by morons.Mistake.

Spyder, why don't you put your money where your mouth is and go get yourself management job with some junior B club. Honestly you are offering nothing but "I said this before, they should have done this....Blah blah blah. You have it in your head that you know more about the NHL then those that have spent the last 30 years INSIDE it. Give it a break. There is a slight chance that you don't have all of the information right? Have all the moves been perfect, you dont have to like them but put your ego down and go back to offering something useful to the conversation

MacT trading what little toughness he had on the back end in Smid for magic beans.If they wanted Brossoit the should of drafted him.I was hoping they would. Mistake.

Not signing a legit goalie to push Dubnyk .Mistake.

Not getting a legit number two centre.Mistake

Signing Hemsky for five million mistake

Signing Grebs. Mistake.

I could keep going on but I will stop with.The press conference to remove all doubt the team is run by morons.Mistake.

Mact actively tried to land a goalie this summer and decided to wait 17 games before signing the only one available for reasonable money/assets.

No one expected Gagner to get a broken jaw. Kinda hard to just grab a number 2 centre at the last minute. And I'm not suggesting Gagner is quite fit to be a centre, I never really thought he was great at centre as many others don't but that's the path the oilers are taking with him.

Tambo signed hemmer. Mact actively shopped him and eventually gave up because there were no takers. Now he's apparently shopping him again.

Grebs. You got me there. Brutal move but fairly low risk

As much as losing sucks the reality is Mact has been gm for a short period. Making changes takes time and effort. GM of the oilers may be one the the hardest GM positions in professional sports.

With no realistic shot of making the playoffs bringing Bryz at the expense of laying Smid on the sacrificial alter shows that these clowns are not cut out for the job. Not only did they do the dirty dead, they gave a useful player to their arch nemesis Burke and the Flames. Burke has picked the pocket of many GM's for years. I think Feaster is one of the 3 worse GM's in the league and Burke is a giant blowhard, but top marks to them. We got bent over, fleeced, and laughed at on this one. The fat kid Nelson from the Simpson's is going HAHA!

The next five years maybe longer we Oilers fans will be roasted over this one. This is a trade that makes no sense. The only way you can save face is if Space Cadet goes unconscious and rolls this team into the dance. Otherwise this management group has shown some of the worst asset management we have ever seen.

Smid was worth a whole lot more then one tweener and a goalie prospect who may not be better then the one we gave up. How many more Rajala's, Hartikainen's, Souray's are we going to flush. Would not have to draft so high every year if you could manage prospects, and assets.

I got no beef with trading Smid. Bryz is not getting us anywhere, and not getting at minimum a roster player who we need, or can contribute is inexcusable because the goalie we have signed is barely an upgrade. Horak is a tweener, maybe he can slot in to 4rth line center. If anyone thinks Bryz can stop point blank shots off turnovers, and massive overplays created by the poorly coached team your completely and utterly insane. Philly been aweful defensively and when Bryz was not in a system that utilizes the trap, sound defensive zone coverage he will be exposed just like Philly who needed more then a big puck blocker. I'd rather get a return like the Sharks got for Murray who advanced scouting said was finished, which was two seconds. Now we have 2 extra contracts, a Russian Cosmonaut, and a continued bad cap situation we can now also be the brunt of all jokes in the NHL.. MacT inexperience at its finest. Can we get Charles Wong to buy the team, and sign Garth Snow assistant.

Smid without the puck was poetry in motion. Smid with the puck? Flipping the puck up the glass doesn't work in todays game. When you watch the better teams the defence puck movement is creative and usually against the flow of play. The way Smid moved the puck was almost a turnover every time he moved it. A great soldier but becoming a dinosaur in todays game. Good luck Ladislav

In his first game Bryz will pitch a 42 save performance and yak will score a hatty. While celebrating his third goal Bryz will grab him and tell him to "chill because three goal is nothing compared to the universe". Yak's mind will be blown to the point where he gives up hockey and pursues a degree in 18th century Belgium lesbian studies

The saddest thing about this game was that the game after MacT sells off Smid to get a replacement for DD that's the performance we get. Devan your job is on the line and you give up 4 goals on the lowest scoring offense in the league. BOLD STATEMENT.

My take on DD today, the 3rd goal was his once per game weak goal. We can not, however, pin this loss on him. This one is on the 10 players that were no-shows, Eberle who is such a cute little fellow but is too small and is weak as a kitten, and Ryan Smyth who should retire.

Dubnyk has lost his game. I was on his side but after this game it's clear to me he has lost his game. Short side from 20 feet out at the goal line? Complete garbage Dubby. I hope with all my heart that Bryzgolav comes in with his A game.

I am sorry , and i know its going to take more than a minor miracle to make the playoffs however, you need to alter this lineup still, Not giving pieces away but moves still need to be made and i expect some very soon. You do not give up on the season with 65 to play. Play as good as they did against T.Bay and we win this one. If Dubnyk plays even remotely well that is. Personally , i can't wait for Bryz to get in the cage and see what he can do.

Anyone who still believes in the competence of Kevin Lowe and thinks he has a done a good job, please send back your Oiler Fan Membership card immediately.

I've been an Oilers fan my whole life. I grew up in the 80's and boy we were spoiled back then. It pains me to see what Lowe has done to this team. He has been the GM and then president over the last 13 years. Check the stats. This has been a sinking ship for 13 years and the man does not have the skills to fix his mistakes. Yes, he was a proven successful NHL player, with 6 rings I hear. Now he has had long enough to prove that he doesn't know how to run a hockey team.

Please fire Lowe so the fans can start to respect this organization again.

Wasn't mactavish hired to put the Oilers over the top? He said he is impatient and the time to develop is over it is time to start winning. How does this man have a job?. Wether or not Tambo had to go is one thing but Tambo was fired only to give MacT the job.

Since we are pretty much out of the playoffs it has proven that he FAILED! He was going to make it better. Tambo was fired so MacT could look like the hero and has that ever back fired.

The league is laughing at him right now over the bryz signing. DD .847 1st period only but it doesnt build confidence.

LOWE MACT BUCKY SMITH must go. there is no plan they have no real clue and the product shows it.

Go to Hell Katz you rich paternal intercourser. You have intercoursed your fans big time

For anyone thinking that size doesn't matter, watch Eberle. If the smaller player is as committed, is quicker to change direction and is faster from point A to B then size is not relevant. However, big, mean NHLers in today's NHL are just as fast, quick and motivated. This isn't 1980 when slewfoots like Brad Marsh populated rosters. All else being +/- equal size is the determining factor. The oil will remain detritus feeders until more than 1 of the dwarfs are converted into actual men.